Without Pess
by Cravat of Doom
Summary: When Edgeworth loses his dog in a fire, he realizes just how alone he really is. There is one person, however, who wants to help. No slash.


**Without Pess**

Miles gripped the steering wheel tighter. Something didn't seem right. It wasn't the fact that he had lost to Wright again (although that certainly aggravated him, even after his revelation about how to prosecute, he was _sure_ the defendant had been guilty), something seemed off. It bothered the prosecutor.

His phone vibrated on the passenger's seat next to him. He picked it up and glanced at the outside screen.

_Dick Gumshoe,_ read the little square.

"Detective."

"Uh...sir? Where are you? There's something you should probably see..."

As if on cue, Edgeworth rounded the corner and saw the flames. He dropped his cell and swerved the car to the left, nearly missing a telephone pole. He didn't want to pull a Gumshoe, especially not when he had bigger issues to worry about.

"My house...." he breathed.

There were cop cars and fire engines in his front yard (ruining his grass!) Detective Gumshoe watched as the red sports car pulled up next to him, a man in a magenta suit hopping out.

"Mr Edgeworth, sir." He gave Miles a sad smile.

Edgeworth could do nothing but watch in horror as his house succumbed to the flames, which seemed to ignore the water being sprayed at it. He didn't think that he had left any appliances on this morning.... Stove, no. Toaster, no. Nothing like that. Unless he left a barbeque lighter out on the table, then perhaps Pess pressed....

Pess.

"PESS!" Edgeworth yelled, grabbing fistfuls of his silver hair.

"Uh, who, sir?" Gumshoe asked, confused.

"My dog. Nooo!"

This couldn't be happening. Pess meant the world to Edgeworth. A dog was just a dog to some people, but the prosecutor really cared about the animal. One of the few things he really, truly cared about.

And now she was inside the burning building.

Edgeworth stared at the fire until the images in front of his eyes didn't make sense anymore.

"I'm really sorry about your dog, sir," Gumshoe said finally, seeing the pain on Miles' face.

The attorney got into his car and fastened his seatbelt. He wasn't going to watch this.

Twenty minutes of driving like a maniac later, he still didn't know where he was going. He didn't really care, either.

The phone on the floor of his car started vibrating, making an odd noise when it was against the metal. Sighing, Edgeworth picked it up.

_Phoenix Wright_, the screen said.

What did _he _want?

Edgeworth wasn't in the mood to talk to Wright (and he certainly didn't remember adding the defense attorney to his contact list), so he ignored it.

It kept vibrating. Wright was annoyingly persistent sometimes.

"Hello?" Edgeworth said reluctantly.

"I heard about your house. Gumshoe told me," said Phoenix's voice. He sounded out of breath.

Gumshoe. Edgeworth would have a talk with the detective sometime...

"Mhmm."

"Do you...uh...need to talk to someone?"

"No, Wright."

"Gumshoe also told me about your dog, Tess or whoever."

_Okay, that's it, _thought Edgeworth, _Gumshoe's salary is going down._

"Pess. It's Pess."

"Right... So you sure you don't need to talk?"

"I'm sure, Wright."

"Too bad. Look behind you."

Edgeworth glanced at this rear view mirror. The defense attorney was driving an old bicycle one-handed. His other hand was holding a cell phone to his ear. He waved at the prosecutor with his hand previously on the handlebar. He lost his balance, and fell of the bike.

Edgeworth groaned and stepped on the brake. He walked over to Phoenix, who was lying on the pavement.

"Owwww..." He got up slowly.

"Aw crap, my phone!"

Pieces of what was once a cell phone were scattered on the road.

Edgeworth couldn't help but smirk.

"Smooth, Wright."

"There go Maya's burgers for the next month... Anyway, you are going to talk to me. It isn't healthy to keep this much emotion bottled up. Even for you."

Edgeworth said nothing. He didn't want to talk to anyone about this right now, especially not Wright.

"You helped me in court two months ago, Edgeworth," Phoenix said, his voice serious, "you helped save Maya from Shelly de Killer. I owe you big time. I know that you have more emotion and feelings than you let on. Please, Miles."

Miles. No one called him that. Not even his guardian, von Karma. Manfred von Karma had always said that emotion equalled weakness, becoming close to people just hindered you...

"_Stop crying, child."_

_"But...Father... Father's gone!"_

_"He was weak, anyway. Winning meant nothing to him, like it should for a lawyer. Petty little defence attorney."_

_"I hate you!"_

_"I do not care, child. As I said before, emotions are a sign of weakness. Do not let yourself become close to others, for they bring you emotion, and therefore weakness."_

_"Yes, sir."_

A single tear ran down Edgeworth's face. He made no attempt to wipe it off. Manfred von Karma had taught himto subconsciously suppress his feelings. He knew that he didn't let any emotion show on the outside, but only now did he understand why he had this reflex. He became cold and distant around people, repelling them like a magnet. Pess had loved him, because she was a dog. He supplied her with food and toys, and in a dog's eyes, an immediate reason to love.

"Without Pess, there's really no one," he whispered. He suddenly felt very alone.

Phoenix approached him slowly. He didn't realize that he'd get Edgeworth to let out sadness this early.

"It's OK to cry, you know."

No one had ever told Miles Edgeworth that before. Something seemed to break inside of him.

"I have to go," he said, turning away from Phoenix before he could see the water running down his face. Too late.

Phoenix watched as the shiny red car drove down the street.

Phoenix sorted through his mail. Junk. Bill. Bill. Bill. Letter.

"Who's it from?" asked Maya.

Phoenix tore open the envelope. A note and something silver fell out. He examined the object. A cell phone, and a very nice one at that. Certainly nicer than his old phone. Maya had laughed for ten minutes when he told her what happened to it.

He unfolded the note. It didn't contain much writing, but Phoenix knew who it was from.

"Maya, I have to go see someone. You stay here in case any clients show up."

"OK! Will you bring me a burger? Please?"

"Alright." The door slammed behind him.

Maya examined the note on the table. She didn't understand what it was about.

"Oh well," she said. She went over to the TV to watch reruns of the Nickel Samurai.

The note sat on the table.

_Thank you... for being there. When no one else is._

_A/N: I don't own any Phoenix Wright characters, etc etc. The "pulling a Gumshoe" line where Edgeworth almost hits a telephone pole refers to Justice for All when Gumshoe can't make it to court because he was speeding a hit a pole, haha. I think Pess is a girl... I wasn't sure so I just made her female. I hoped you enjoyed the fic, and please review. Please. _


End file.
